Van Helsing (film)
| writer = Stephen Sommers | based on = Van Helsing by Bram Stoker | starring = | music = Alan Silvestri | cinematography = Allen Daviau | editing = | production companies = Sommers Company Stillking Films | distributor = Universal Pictures | released = | runtime = 131 minutes | country = United States Czech Republic | language = English | budget = $160 million | gross = $300.3 million }}Van Helsing is a 2004 American period action horror film written and directed by Stephen Sommers. It stars Hugh Jackman as vigilante monster hunter Van Helsing, and Kate Beckinsale as Anna Valerious. The film is an homage and tribute to the Universal Horror Monster films from the 1930s and '40s (also produced by Universal Studios which were in turn based on novels by Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley), of which Sommers is a fan. The eponymous character was inspired by the Dutch vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing from Irish author Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. Distributed by Universal Pictures, the film includes a number of monsters such as Count Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, Mr. Hyde and werewolves in a way similar to the multi-monster movies that Universal produced in the 1940s, such as Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula. Despite mostly negative reviews, the film grossed over $300 million worldwide. Plot In 1887, Transylvania, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, with help from his assistant Igor, and Count Dracula, successfully creates a monster. Dracula, a vampire, intends to use the creature for his own benefits, murdering Frankenstein. As an angry mob storms Castle Frankenstein, the monster flees to a windmill with his dead creator. The mob burn down the windmill, the monster apparently destroyed in the flames. One year later, monster hunter Van Helsing kills Mr. Hyde after a brawl in Notre-Dame de Paris. Van Helsing suffers from amnesia, slaying evil on behalf of the Vatican City, hoping he will earn redemption for forgotten sins. He is tasked by Cardinal Jinette to go to Transylvania and destroy Dracula. He must also protect the last members of an ancient Romanian family, the Valerious, whose ancestor vowed his descendants would kill Dracula, or fall into Purgatory. He receives a torn parchment, written in Latin, which reads, “In the name of God, open this door.” Van Helsing travels to Transylvania, accompanied by Carl, an eccentric friar and inventor. Anna and Velkan Valerious attempt to kill a werewolf controlled by Dracula, but both it and Velkan fall into a river. Van Helsing and Carl arrive in a village, where they and Anna are attacked by Dracula’s three brides – Verona, Marishka, and Aleera. Van Helsing slays Marishka. Anna agrees to work with Van Helsing, but encounters Velkan, now cursed to become a werewolf during a full moon. The two follow Velkan to Castle Frankenstein, now used by Dracula in an attempt to replicate Dr. Frankenstein’s experiments to give life to his undead children, using Velkan as the conductor. While Anna tries to rescue her brother, who succumbs to his curse, Van Helsing confronts Dracula, finding he is immune to the traditional methods of killing a vampire. Dracula expresses familiarity with Van Helsing, addressing him as “Gabriel”, offering to return his memories to him. Van Helsing and Anna flee the castle, Dracula discovering his attempt to use werewolf blood to give his children life has failed. Carl witnesses a painting come to life, depicting two knights transforming into a vampire and a werewolf respectively. Van Helsing and Anna retreat to the windmill, falling through the floor into a deep cave, where they meet Frankenstein’s monster, who is the true key to fulfilling Dracula’s plans. Van Helsing opts to shelter the monster in the Vatican. On the way, the group are ambushed by the brides and Velkan. Verona and Velkan are both killed, but not before the latter bites Van Helsing, cursing him to become a werewolf. Anna is kidnapped by Aleera, who arranges with Van Helsing to trade her for the monster. Van Helsing locks the monster within a crypt, but he is captured by Dracula’s undead horde. Van Helsing and Carl save Anna, using a solar-based weapon created by Carl to destroy the undead. Returning to the Valerious castle, Carl explains Dracula is in fact the son of Anna’s ancestor, imprisoned within an icy fortress, hidden behind a large walled map of Transylvania. Using the torn parchment, Van Helsing opens the door, finding Dracula’s fortress. The captured monster informing Van Helsing that Dracula possesses a cure for the curse, Carl realising only a werewolf can kill Dracula. Capturing Igor, Van Helsing sends him, Anna, and Carl to retrieve the cure, whilst he frees the monster. The monster is struck by lighting twice, bringing Dracula’s children to life. Dracula, spotting Van Helsing, transforms into a demonic form, fighting Van Helsing after he transforms into a werewolf. Aleera and Igor both perish as Anna and Carl retrieve the cure. The full moon is briefly overshadowed by clouds, returning Van Helsing temporarily to normal, Dracula revealing he is the archangel Gabriel. Van Helsing transforms into a werewolf again, tearing out Dracula’s throat, he and his children dying. Anna runs in with the cure, but Van Helsing leaps upon and kills her, though the cure is applied, healing him. Van Helsing and Carl host a funeral for Anna overlooking the sea, where the monster departs by boat. Van Helsing witnesses Anna’s spirit reuniting with her family in Heaven, freed of their vow. Van Helsing and Carl ride off on horseback, their task fulfilled. Cast * Hugh Jackman as Gabriel Van Helsing, a legendary hunter of monsters. * Kate Beckinsale as Anna Valerious, the last descendant of an ancient Romanian family. * Richard Roxburgh as Count Vladislaus Dracula, the ruler of Transylvania. * David Wenham as Carl, a friar of the Holy Order. * Shuler Hensley as Frankenstein's monster * Kevin J. O'Connor as Igor, a former servant of Frankenstein's, now working for Dracula. * Will Kemp as Velkan Valerious, Anna's brother, who is turned into a werewolf. * Elena Anaya as Aleera, the most sadistic of Dracula's brides. * Alun Armstrong as Cardinal Jinette, Van Helsing's superior in the Holy Order. * Silvia Colloca as Verona, the oldest of Dracula's brides. * Josie Maran as Marishka, the third of Dracula's brides. * Tom Fisher as Top Hat, a Transylvanian grave digger. * Samuel West as Dr. Victor Frankenstein * Stephen Fisher as Dr. Jekyll ** Robbie Coltrane as the voice of Mr. Hyde Soundtrack The film's original soundtrack was composed by Alan Silvestri. Merchandise Video game Vivendi Universal Games published a ''Van Helsing'' video game for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance. The game follows a similar plot to the movie, has gameplay similar to Devil May Cry and the PS2 and Xbox versions feature the voice talent of many of the actors including Hugh Jackman. Slot games Van Helsing also features in a slot game produced by International Game Technology. The game is available in real world casinos and online, though users in Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and the US are excluded from playing the online games. Reception Box office The film opened at #1 in the weekend of May 7–9, 2004. The film grossed US$300,257,475 worldwide of which US$120,177,084 was from the US. Critical reception Van Helsing received mostly negative reviews by critics. Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 24% of 224 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 4.2/10. The site's consensus calls the film a "hollow creature feature that suffers from CGI overload." Metacritic rated it 35/100 based on 38 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave an extremely negative review, rating the film half a star out of four and calling it "the worst would-be summer blockbuster since Battlefield Earth". Furthermore, he wrote "There are quite a few unintentionally funny moments, although the overall experience was too intensely painful for me to be able to advocate it as being "so bad, it's good." ... Some, however, will doubtless view it as such. More power to them, since sitting through this movie requires something more than a strong constitution and a capacity for self-torture." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle greatly disliked the film, writing: "Writer-director Stephen Sommers (...) throws together plot strains from various horror movies and stories and tries to muscle things along with flash and dazzle. But his film just lies there, weighted down by a complete lack of wit, artfulness and internal logic. ... What Sommers tries to do here is use action as the only means of involving an audience. So story is sacrificed. Character development is nonexistent, and there are no attempts to incite emotion. Instead, Sommers tries to hold an audience for two hours with nothing up his sleeve but colored ribbons, bright sparklers and a kazoo. What he proves is that this is no way to make movies." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film 3 stars out of 4 stating that "At the outset, we may fear Sommers is simply going for f/x overkill, but by the end, he has somehow succeeded in assembling all his monsters and plot threads into a high-voltage climax. Van Helsing is silly, spectacular and fun." Accolades Spin-offs Sommers expanded the story of Van Helsing in two direct spin-offs: * The animated prequel titled Van Helsing: The London Assignment takes place before the main events of the film, focusing on Van Helsing's mission to try to stop Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from terrorizing London. * There is also a one-shot comic book, published by Dark Horse Comics, titled Van Helsing: From Beneath the Rue Morgue, that follows Van Helsing on a self-contained adventure that occurs during the events of the film, just after the death of Jekyll/Hyde in Paris but before Van Helsing returned to Rome. In the adventure, Van Helsing deals with Doctor Moreau and his hybrid mutants. Reboot and shared universe In May 2012, Universal Pictures announced that they would be rebooting the film with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci as a two-year deal to produce a modern reimagining and Tom Cruise to star as the title character and also produce the film. Rupert Sanders is in talks to direct the film. Orci spoken to IGN that he has hinted that both The Mummy and Van Helsing reboots will have a shared universe. On November 11, 2015, Variety reports that Jon Spaihts and Eric Heisserer will write the reboot, but Cruise left the film. However, in 2016, Cruise signed back on to star in Kurtzman's The Mummy, which was released in theaters on June 9, 2017. See also * Abraham Van Helsing * Universal Monsters * Vampire film * List of films featuring Frankenstein's monster * ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' (film) References External links * * * * * * * Dark Horse Comics' Van Helsing one-shot comic book Category:2004 films Category:2004 horror films Category:2000s action films Category:American films Category:American action films Category:American supernatural horror films Category:English-language films Category:Action horror films Category:Crossover films Category:Dracula films Category:Films set in 1887 Category:Films set in 1888 Category:Films set in Budapest Category:Films set in Paris Category:Films set in Slovakia Category:Films set in Transylvania Category:Films set in Rome Category:Films shot in the Czech Republic Category:Films shot in Florida Category:Films shot in Los Angeles Category:Films shot in Paris Category:Films shot in Rome Category:Frankenstein films Category:Fiction about shapeshifting Category:Stillking Films films Category:Swashbuckler films Category:Vigilante films Category:Werewolves in film Category:Universal Pictures films Category:Films directed by Stephen Sommers Category:Films produced by Stephen Sommers Category:Films produced by Sam Mercer Category:Film scores by Alan Silvestri Category:Films with screenplays by Stephen Sommers Category:Universal Monsters